


All Coins Lead To Rome

by Pameluke



Category: John Wick (Movies)
Genre: Backstory, Extortion, Gen, Italian Mafia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-20 23:38:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12444447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pameluke/pseuds/Pameluke
Summary: You never forget your first.





	All Coins Lead To Rome

**Author's Note:**

  * For [coaldustcanary](https://archiveofourown.org/users/coaldustcanary/gifts).



Gianna earned her first coin at the age of twenty-three.

She had access to the family vault, of course. She'd even spent some coin of her own when staying at the Continental, when her father appointed her a couple of minor meetings to learn the ropes. But she disliked spending what belonged to her father, disliked using the family credit. The Camorra didn't sustain leeches long and neither did her father.

Yet, Gianna being her father's daughter, earning coin of her own wasn't necessarily easy. There were two ways to acquire coins, buy them for a gargantuan amount of money, or trade in death. Her family dealt in extortion, money laundering, drugs trafficking and a whole lot of violence, but all that power and might meant she hadn't had to get her own hands dirty so far. She hadn't dealt out death herself.

Today, that would change.

Angelo Bandini was old Camorra. The family had been in Napoli since the 1920s. Sometimes the Bandini territory sprawled over large parts of the city, other times the family had almost been vanquished. They'd never risen to true power amongst the Camorra ranks, but they'd never been eradicated either, managing to evade the raids of other gangs and the fruitless attempts at justice by the Italian government. The Bandini were like roaches. Living among the garbage, but hard to kill.

The family had hit on hard times however, only Angelo and his granddaughter left to carry the family name, and a loyal but small gang that still stood behind them. After all these years, their reputation had backfired–Jacopo Sorrento had become convinced that taking the Bandini territory would increase his power and influence, and his onslaught had been unwavering. He'd sent man after man after Bandini's people, had blown up cars and ordered drive-by shootings. He'd rained down destruction and pain, and while he'd managed to kill Angelo's son and daughter-in-law, he'd also sent many of his own people to their deaths. Jacopo hadn't figured out yet that true power didn't come from money alone, but from the loyalty of your men, which eventually ran out if you didn't respect their lives.

"My father used to tell me stories about your family," she said. She didn't drink her wine but swirled it around in her glass instead. "He told me about all the old families. But I never realized that meant the people were all old." She pointed at Angelo's grey hair, made sure to put a sneer on her face. The truth was, Angelo's age meant he was a survivor–his rough grey beard was not enough to hide the scar of a knife wound on his neck–still standing after all these years. There was no shame in being old in a business like theirs. But she was counting on his sense of vanity and honor to work against him.

Angelo tutted at her. "I've survived many young upstarts.” He raised his glass at her and took a long drink. “I’ll survive you.”

Gianna smiled, took a sip of her own. “I’m sure you will. I'm less sure about Jacopo Sorrento.” She inspected her nails, ignored the way Angelo sat a little straighter at the mere mention of the Sorrento name. “He’s a boar and a nuisance. I can get rid of him for you.”

Now Angelo scoffed at her. “Your father could, I’m sure. But what’s a little sparrow like you going to do against a boar?”

Gianna looked up from her nails, put down her glass on the little settee table and waved to Luciano, her man guarding the door. “I’ll take care of him like this.”

Luciano motioned Alessandro inside, who had his hands on the shoulders of a teenaged girl. To her credit, the girl didn’t look scared nor intimidated. She didn’t try to make a run for her grandfather either. Pina Bandini had lost an older brother, her parents and a couple of uncles and aunts in her short life–Gianna figured she’d realized she or her grandfather would be next a long time ago.

In front of her, Angelo had frozen in his seat. The tension in his shoulders was obvious, his fingers were white where he grabbed the armrest of his seat. “I will murder you,” he said through gritted teeth.

"You can try," Gianna said and took a cigaret from her small purse. “But there’ll be no need for that, Angelo Bandini.” She waited for him to light her cig–he was a true gentleman even under duress–and sat back in her seat, crossing her legs. “Here’s what’s going to happen. I have in my possession Jacopo’s infant son, a couple of his nephews, his youngest sister, and two brats belonging to Andrea, his second. I’ll make two demands of them and they'll honor my orders, or I’ll slash the children's throats.” She counted on her fingers. “One: I want Jacopo’s life, either by himself or by one of his own. Two: The pressure on your territory stops.” She pointed her two fingers at Angelo. “I’ll get this done, and you’ll pay me for it. You'll pay me for it well.”

Angelo looked at her, looked at his granddaughter who stood so close, but was completely out of reach, the knife at her throat catching the light of the chandeliers. “This is extortion.”

Gianna blew smoke in his face. “It is.”

Angelo sighed. He reached into the inside pocket of his vest, put a coin on the table and slid it towards her on the table. “Send me the bill.”

Gianna dropped her cigarette on the marble floor, put it out with the tip of her shoe before she picked up the golden coin. Her first. She couldn’t resist pressing it between her fingers to feel the design, feel the weight of it in the palm of her hand.

She stood up, put the coin in her cleavage, close to her heart. “A pleasure doing business with you, Angelo. My accountant will be in touch.” She shook his hand, pressed her nails into the skin of his wrist a little, and then turned her back to him. He needed time to lick his wounds. 

Alessandro followed her out, leaving the girl in the warm care of her grandfather as a sign of goodwill.

She had a family to obliterate.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Karios for the lovely beta and soundboard.


End file.
